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Top 5 April Fool’s Day Tech Pranks

Let's face it, technology has changed the way the world works. Here at SantaFe.com, we embrace that. We also embrace a good prank when we can. Why not bring April Fool's day into the digital age too? Here's a list of our favorite tech-centric April Fool's Day pranks.

The Flip Flop: Turn your friend's world upside down (or at least their desktop) . On a computer running Windows, right-click on the desktop and select "screen resolution." From there, change the "orientation" option to "landscape (flipped)". On a Mac, launch System Preferences from the  Apple menu, hold down the Command+Option keys and click on the “Display” icon, on the right side of the Display preferences, look for the newly visible 'Rotation' drop down menu. This is an easy prank, that the average computer user will totally "flip" out over.

Mouse Fun: We found so many mouse pranks, we just had to condense them into one section. For this, you'll need access to the potential victim's computer. Once you're into "cursor settings/mouse settings" you can have all kinds of fun. Do things like change the mouse speed settings to hyper-speed or super-slow, or change the cursor icon to an "always busy" hourglass. Don't have your victim's password? Go "Old School" and simply put a piece of tape on the optical sensor on the bottom of the mouse. Ball mouse? No worries (well, you might worry about your co-worker's technical prowess if they are still using a Ball Mouse...) just take out the ball, (you'll want to keep it in a safe place though, as there is a fine line between pranking someone, and breaking thier mouse).

"Text Me Already!": You iPhone users know how annoying that "user is typing" image can be. You know, those three little dots that let you know when someone is about to text you. Take that animation and turn it into it's own text via the "Text In Progress" animation. Send it to someone, and they'll wait for days for that imminent text that will never come.

Smart TV's are Just Dumb Computers: Thank you technology, for the Smart TV and DVR! Never before has messing with the channel changer in your family been easier. Get into the "parental controls" settings on your TV's menu, and set all channels to be restricted, except for one really boring channel, something like "Watching Paint Dry 24/7" or Fox News. Have a DVR? Record a previous version of the lottery drawing, then go to the store and buy a ticket for those numbers. Secretly put on the pre-recorded lottery drawing and ask a friend or family member to watch the numbers for you. Speaking of recording, you may want to record the reactions of your victim as they watch number after number match up!

Zombie Computer: For this one, we've created graphics that you can download (below). You'll need to gain access to a friend, family member, or best of all, co-worker's computer, and insert this graphic as the Dektop Image. We've made these images just grainy enough that the average user should figure it out before they have to call the IT guy. Turning the computer off and back on won't fix this one! See below for images and instructions on how to change the desktop image.

For Mac's: Right Click on the Desktop, click on "Change Desktop Background..." and then simply insert the fake desktop background image below (right click and "save as").

For PC's: Go to Control Panel > Personalization > Desktop Image and insert the Windows image from below.

We should probably insert some kind of disclaimer here, but we trust you not to get yourselves into too much trouble. Just be nice, and remeber it's April Fool's day, not "Ruin Your Friend's Life Day".